All the young ladies at the tea party looked at Liriope with puzzled expressions, but she didn’t care in the slightest.

“Come sit here, over here.”

When Liriope pointed to the seat beside her and spoke, Rosearin hesitated for a moment, flustered. But seeing Liriope’s bright, cheerful smile, she went over and sat down next to her.

Though a trace of discomfort briefly showed on her face, Liriope pretended not to notice and gave her the most businesslike smile she could muster.

“Sorry for being late,” Rosearin said softly, glancing at Liriope to read her mood.

“Hey, people can be late sometimes. It happens.”

Liriope lifted the teacup in front of her and took a sip. Her eyes widened instinctively—the tea was both unique and delicious.

“Oh, what is this tea? It’s really good.”

“Right? It’s imported from Dalbadian. It has a tangy yet sweet flavor, and I liked it so much I thought I’d serve it today.”

“Ah, Dalbadian… that’s the island nation where it rains year-round, isn’t it?”

Liriope tilted her head as if speaking to herself, and instead of Selzionel, Rosearin nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

As someone with a deep interest in tea and a serious passion for collecting it, Rosearin looked like she was very familiar with the tea they were drinking. Seeing the way her eyes lit up at the tea conversation, Liriope recalled how Rosearin had once desperately searched for rare tea leaves in the original story. And right then, a great idea flashed through Liriope’s mind.

The tea leaves Rosearin had worked so hard to obtain in the original…

“Oh, Lady Rosearin, you’re really into tea, aren’t you?”

Liriope set her cup down and asked, and Rosearin shyly nodded.

“I enjoy collecting it.”

“Then how about visiting the Duke’s estate this weekend?”

At those words, not only Rosearin but all the other young ladies, including Selzionel, widened their eyes in shock. Selzionel, in particular, looked visibly flustered.

And understandably so. Liriope had hated Rosearin since their academy days, and Selzionel had egged her on, manipulating things so that Rosearin would be isolated among the young noblewomen through petty and sly schemes.

Liriope, determined never to repeat the wrongs she had committed in the original story, spoke to Rosearin.

“My father recently brought back some tea leaves from abroad, and they haven’t been distributed in the Empire yet.”

Selzionel’s face hardened at Liriope’s words. She had prepared this tea party intending to belittle and harass the thorn in her side, Rosearin, so what on earth was happening now?

‘Even I haven’t been invited to the Duke’s estate yet, and that little nothing gets to go…?!’

“Oh my. If you have such rare tea leaves, you should invite me first, Lady Liriope,” Selzionel said with forced sweetness.

Liriope smiled sweetly at her and replied,

“But you’re not really into collecting tea, are you? Lady Rosearin absolutely loves it.”

At that, Selzionel’s carefully composed expression froze in an instant. The other young ladies also began whispering to each other, casting curious glances at Liriope’s changed attitude toward Rosearin.

But the most surprised of all was Rosearin herself.

It was already surprising enough that Liriope knew about her hobby of collecting tea leaves, but inviting her to her home and offering her rare, imported tea leaves? That was beyond unexpected. Rosearin looked at Liriope with a mix of confusion, excitement, and complex, delicate emotions.

“Well, I guess I didn’t know that. She’s such a gloomy young lady who rarely talks about herself,” Selzionel said, lifting her teacup.

Although she phrased it like an offhand comment, she spoke loudly enough for everyone at the table to hear, and her twisted smile made it clear that she had deliberately chosen the word “gloomy.”

Both Rosearin and Liriope stiffened as they turned to look at Selzionel. But Selzionel, unfazed by their gazes, took a sip of tea and then playfully added to the young lady beside her,

“Of course, that gloomy vibe could just come from her looks, right?”

The young lady next to her forced a smile, glancing at Liriope nervously, and the others also gave awkward laughs in response to the marquis’s domineering presence. Rosearin lowered her head and pressed her lips together tightly, the mocking laughter clearly directed at her.

But at that moment, a sharp scoff escaped from Liriope’s lips. All eyes, including Rosearin’s, turned toward her.

Liriope rested her elbow on the tea table and leaned her chin into her hand in a casual, almost insolent manner, then stared directly at Selzionel.

“To be honest, judging by looks alone, isn’t Lady Selzionel the most gloomy-looking one here?”

In an instant, the smile vanished from Selzionel’s face. As the atmosphere chilled like cold water had been splashed over it, Liriope finally added with a smile that feigned humor—though her words still carried a sharp edge.

“That’s why it’s a good thing you’re a marquis’s daughter, right?”

Selzionel couldn’t hide her expression anymore and glared at Liriope with a frozen look. Liriope, finally removing her hand from her chin, picked up her teacup and continued casually,

“You’re not offended, are you? I’m just joking—just like you were when you joked about Lady Rosearin a moment ago.”

“…O-offended? Not at all.”

Forced into a situation where she couldn’t admit her irritation, Selzionel gave a strained smile. But her increasingly rigid expression betrayed how difficult it was for her to maintain her composure.

Then it suddenly dawned on her—now that Liriope was officially engaged to Theo, she had no reason to continue harassing Rosearin. After all, the only reason Liriope had targeted Rosearin in the first place was because the Crown Prince had shown interest in her.

Selzionel frowned slightly at the realization that she would no longer be able to manipulate Liriope into tormenting Rosearin. Still, she forced herself to smooth out her expression and raised an awkward smile.

“Imported tea leaves from across the sea? That sounds intriguing,” said Landrian, one of Selzionel’s followers, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

At that, the other young ladies began murmuring curiously as well. Liriope didn’t respond to Landrian—she simply gave a smile with her eyes and sipped her tea.

There was no way she could answer, since the Duke had never actually brought back any tea leaves from overseas. If Rosearin accepted the invitation, Liriope planned to obtain the tea leaves that Rosearin had once tried so hard to buy in the original story.

She couldn’t recall every detail exactly, but she did remember that the shop owner had demanded an absurdly high price, and Rosearin could only afford to buy one box.

“Lady Rosearin, you’ll come, right?” Liriope asked again, her expression clearly saying she really wanted her to.

With an awkward smile, Rosearin nodded.

“I’d be honored to be invited.”

Liriope smiled with satisfaction, feeling that using tea to bridge the gap between them was indeed a very good idea. As she drank her tea, she resolved to go out the very next day to purchase the tea leaves Rosearin had discovered in the original story.

Selzionel stared at her, unable to properly conceal the expression of anger on her face. She had clearly planned to once again encourage Liriope to torment Rosearin during this very tea party. 

In the original story, their bullying before the main plot began had been summarized in just two short lines, but even those lines were enough to show just how cruelly Liriope and Selzionel had tormented Rosearin since their academy days.

But now, that would no longer happen. After all, if Liriope became friends with Rosearin, Selzionel naturally wouldn’t be able to treat her poorly anymore either.

***

“Of course, you can’t go alone.”

Gemma, visibly upset, blocked Liriope, who had finished getting ready to go out.

Liriope had rushed from early morning to buy the tea leaves Rosearin had once discovered by chance in the original story, but Gemma insisted she couldn’t let her go into the city without Sir Gray, her knight escort, returning to the duchy first.

“Then why don’t you come with me?”

“Oh, Lady Liri, really. Even though I was born into a viscount family, I’m still only a half-blood—I can’t use elemental magic. And even if I could, I wouldn’t be stronger than you.”

“Then that means I’m strong enough to go on my own.”

“Absolutely not. If Master finds out, I’ll lose my head.”

Liriope couldn’t understand why she even needed an escort just to go into the bustling shopping district.

“Gray is in Ferran right now. Who knows when he’ll be back? Are you saying I should just wait around for him?”

“Didn’t you speak with him via communicator last week? He said he might be back next week.”

“Ughhh, I don’t care. I have to go today.”

“Not without an escort!”

A long sigh escaped Liriope’s lips. In this world, the real dangers were monsters and humans who used forbidden dark magic, so why did she need protection to visit an area filled with commoners who couldn’t even use elemental magic?

Shouldn’t it be the commoners who were afraid of her, a fire-element mage who graduated top of her class from the academy? Even her graduation project alone would terrify ordinary people into fleeing.

That thought suddenly occurred to her, and she immediately asked Gemma,

“Then, should I bring Lynix?”

She gestured with her chin toward Lynix, who was dozing on the sofa. Gemma immediately gave her a deadpan look. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. If you really want to go, ask His Grace to assign you an escort.”

‘…Huh?’

Liriope blinked, caught off guard by the completely unexpected name that had just come out of Gemma’s mouth.

“Make a choice. Either ask His Grace for an escort so you can go into the city, or postpone your outing until Sir Gray returns.”